Refuse compactor drive system

ABSTRACT

A refuse compactor having a cabinet provided with a bottom base wall and a mounting member removably secured to the base wall for carrying a drive means including a drive motor above the base wall and a power take-off means connected to the ram drive means below the base wall. The mounting member is adjustably positionable on the base wall for adjusting the tension in a chain drive portion of the power take-off means. The drive means may be mounted in the refuse compactor with the cabinet in an inverted position for facilitated installation and servicing.

United States Patent [1 1 Difley et al. I

[451 Nov. 20, 1973 REFUSE COMPACTOR DRIVE SYSTEM [75] Inventors: Charles R. Difley, Harrodsburg;

William Roy McDonald, Danville, both of Ky.

[73] Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, Mich.

[22] Filed: Sept. 8, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 178,603

[52] U.S. Cl 100/290, 74/242.13 A, 100/229 A [51] Int. Cl B30b 1/18 [58] Field of Search 74/242.l3 A;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,756,515 4/1930 Hulsey 74/242.l3 A

1,871,708 8/1932 Lea 74/242.13 A

2,046,533 7/1936 Robinson.... 74/242.l3 A

2,590,450 3/1952 Parsons l5l/41.75 X 2,762,661 9/1956 Sloyan 74/242.13 A 3,189,077 6/1965 Willis et a1 l5l/41.75 X 3,353,478 11/1967 Hopkins 100/290 X Primary Examiner-Billy J. Wilhite Attorney-James S. Nettleton et a1.

' [57] ABSTRACT A refuse compactor having a cabinet provided with a bottom base wall and a mounting member removably secured to the base wall for carrying a drive means including a drive motor above the base wall and a power take-off means connected to the ram drive means below the base wall. The mounting member is adjustably positionable on the base wall for adjusting the tension in a chain drive portion of the power take-off means. The drive means may be mounted in the refuse compactor with the cabinet in an inverted position for facilitated installation and servicing.

12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 REFUSE COMPACTOR DRIVE SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention I This invention relates to refuse compactors and in particular to refuse compactors wherein a power drive is provided in the bottom portion of the cabinet carried on a base wall.

2. Description of thePrior Art In one form of improved refuse compactor shown in Lester H. Hinkel et al U. S. Letters Patent No. 3,537,390 for a Refuse Compactor, owned by the assignee hereof, a ram is provided within an outer cabinet for compacting refuse in-a movable drawer. The ram is powered by an electric motor carried on a portion of the frame and provided with a depending drive shaft for driving a power take-off system disposed below a bottom.wall portion of the cabinet connected to a pair of drive screws extending upwardly from the base wall to the ram.

In another form of refuse compactor shown in Hopkins U. S. Letters Patent No. 3,353,478 fora Waste Collecting and Compacting Unit, a drive motor is mounted integrally with a speed reducer unit having an output coupled to one of the ram worm shafts with a chain drive being interconnected between the worm shafts by means of sprockets carried thereon. In Schohl U. S. Letters Patent No. 3,228,323, for a Garbage I Compressor and Compactor-Device, a drive motor is mounted on one side of the body of the compactor with the refuse receiving housing mounted on the other side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION driving a power take-off disposed below the base wall I and interconnected with the ram drive means. The

power take-off includes gearing carried-by the motor and base member and a chain drive connected between the gearing and the ram driveshafts. More specifically, the invention comprehends providing in such a refuse compactor having a base, a compacting ram, and means carried by the base for driving the ram including a driven sprocket, drive means for driving the driven sprocket including a mounting member, an electric drive motor having an output shaft, means securing the drive motor to the mounting member, a drive sprocket rotatably carried by the mounting member, means for driving the driver sprocket from the motor shaft, a

chain interconnecting said driver sprocket and the driven sprocket for driving the ram as an incident of rotation of the motor shaft,'and means for adjustably securing the mounting member to the compactor base with the driver sprocket aligned with the driven sprocket and providing for adjustment of the tension in the chain between the driver and driven sprockets.

The means for adjustably securing the mounting member to the compactor base herein comprises a plurality of first connecting elements carried by the compactor base, a plurality of slots in the mounting member disposed to align with the threaded connector elements carried by the compactor base, and a plurality of second threaded connector elements engaging the mounting member at the slots and disposed for threaded association with the first threaded connecting elements for adjustably fixedly securing, the mounting member to the compactor base.

The drivemeans structure of the present invention permits a facilitated installation thereof wherein the cabinet is disposed in an inverted position with the base wall uppermost. The drive member, with the motor thereon, is adjustably secured to the base wall with the motor extending downwardly through an opening in the base wall. The chain drive may then be connected from the driver sprocket of the power take-off to the driven sprockets of the ram drive shafts with the chain in a continuous loop form. The adjustment of the mounting member on the base member is utilized to provide the desired tension in the chain. The cabinet may then be returned to the upright position with the drive means disposed at the bottom thereof in the normal arrangement'in the operation of the compactor. The drive means of the present invention provides a desired speed reduction from the drive motor with a mini mum vertical space requirement. The tension of the chain may be readily adjusted as desired originally in the manufacture of the compactor and subsequently in the maintenance thereof by means of the improved drive mounting member. The drive means is extremely simple and economical of construction while yet providing the highly desirable features discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a refuse compactor having a drive means embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary rear elevation with lower portions broken away of the lower portion of the compactor showing the drive means;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary bottom plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the means for securing the mounting member to the cabinet base wall.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, a refuse compactor generally designated 10 is shown to include an outer cabinet I l. Refuse depositedin a drawer 12 of the compactor is compacted by means of a ram 13 which is disposed in the upper portion of the cabinet in an upper, retracted position and which is selectively driven downwardly into the drawer by a power drive including a pair of upright threaded shafts 14 and 15. As shown in FIG. 3, the shafts extend downwardly through a base wall 16 extending across the bottom of cabinet 11 with the lower ends of the shafts being journalled in suitable bearing supports 17 and each carrying a driven sprocket 18 below base wall 16. Rotation of the shafts about the vertical axis thereof imparts a selective downward and upward movement to the ram, depending on the direction of rotation of the shafts, in a manner similar to that disclosed in the above identified Hinkel et a]. US. Pat. No. 3,537,390, which patent is incorporated by reference herein as a disclosure of such ram operating means.

As indicated briefly above, the present invention comprehends providing an improved means for effecting the driving rotation of shafts 14 and 15. More specifically, the present invention comprehends providing a mounting member 19 in the form of a plate having a central opening 20. The electric drive motor 21 is mounted on a depressed central portion 22 of the mounting plate by means of suitable resilient grommets 23 and securing nuts 24 threaded to depending screws 25 on the motor 21. The motor drive shaft 26 extends downwardly through mounting plate opening and carries at its lower end a drive gear 27 which is disposed below the mounting plate (as shown in FIG. 4) for meshed engagement with a driven gear 28 rotatably joumalled on a stub shaft 29 depending from the mounting plate 19. Gear 28 includes a hub 30 and a driver sprocket 31 for driving a chain 32 trained around the ram drive shaft sprockets 18, as shown in FIG. 3. The location of the motor screw holes 33 relative to the stub shaft 29 may be accurately preselected for accuracy in the disposition of driver gear 27 on motor shaft 26 and driven gear 28 on stub shaft 29. The integral driven gear 28, hub 30, and driver sprocket 31 may be rotatably retained on stub shaft 29 by a suitable retaining ring 34, as shown in FIG. 4.

Mounting plate 19 includes a pair of flat edge portions 35 and 36, each of which is provided with a pair of aligned slots 37 for use in adjustably positioning the mounting plate 19 on the base wall 16. Referring more specifically to FIG. 5, the base wall is provided with an opening 38 slightly smaller than the periphery of the mounting plate 19 for facilitated extension of the motor 21 therethrough. The base wall is further provided with a plurality of square openings 39 adjacent the edge of opening 38 disposed in conformity with the arrangement of the slots 37 in mounting plate 19. Screws 40 having a square shoulder are arranged with the threaded shank portion 41 thereof extending one each through the respective four holes 39 and with the head portion 42 thereof engaging the base wall 16 and the square shoulders engaging square holes 39. The screws are retained in association with the base wall by means of spring clips 43 each having an upper leg portion 44 having a bifurcated end 45 straddling the screw shank 41, and an opposite concave leg 46 abutting the screw head 42. The spring clip effectively defines a U- member extending about the edge of the base wall defining opening 38 and may be installed in association therewith by simple lateral movement thereof over the edge of opening 38 subsequent to the insertion of the screw 40 through the opening 39. The mounting plate 19 is secured to the base wall 16 by passing of the screw shanks 41 upwardly through the slots 37 permitting the mounting plate to be fixedly retained in association with the base wall by means of a suitable nut 47 and friction washer 48. Alternately, nut 47 and friction washer 48 may be replaced by a self-locking nut of the type generally available. The elongated slots 37 permit an adjustable positioning of the mounting plate 19 on the base wall so that chain 32 may be readily installed and the tension thereof adjusted by suitable positioning of the mounting plate over the screws 40. The drive may be then readily secured in the adjusted position by the suitable tightening of nuts 47 against the mounting plate edge portions 35 and 36 to complete the installation of the ram drive means.

As shown in FIG. 4, the base wall 16 of cabinet 1 1 defines a downtumed edge 49. An upstanding frame structure 50 is carried on the base wall 16 to receive thereacross the cabinet 11 where the refuse compactor is a free-standing refuse compactor, as shown in FIG. 1. Where the compactor is an under-the-counter compactor, the outer cabinet 1 1 may be omitted. The frame 50 is secured to flange 49 by suitable means, such as welding 51. Downtumed edge 49 defines a drive space 52 in which the drive gear 27, driven gear 28, sprockets 18, 31, and 32 are disposed above the lowermost distal edge 53 of the cabinet sidewall at the bottom of flange 49. As further shown in FIG. 4, levellers 54 may be threaded to the base wall for permitting levelling of the cabinet 11 as desired. As shown in FIG. 2, base wall 16 carries, in the space 55 thereabove, suitable roller guide means 56 for movably carrying the drawer l2 forwardly of the motor 21 with the forward end of the space 55 being closed by an upright wall 57 rearwardly of the drawer 12 in the retracted, or compacting, position thereof within cabinet 11. Thus the mounting plate 19 effectively carries the drive motor 21 in space 55 superjacent the base wall 16 and the drive gear, sprockets, and chain in space 52 subjacent the base wall for facilitated installation and maintenance.

As the drive motor and drive gears are mounted as a unit on the mounting plate, installation of the drive means is facilitated. Thus, the frame 50 may be inverted so as to dispose the base wall 16 uppermost permitting the drive assembly to be installed thereon by mounting the threaded shafts 14, 15 together with bearing supports 17 and sprockets 18, then by movement of the drive motor secured to the mounting plate downwardly through the opening 38 in the base wall with the mounting plate being secured to the base wall by means of the screws 40 and nuts 47, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Screws 40 are retained in upstanding relationship to the base wall 16 at this time by the clips 43. The chain 32 is then installed around sprockets l8 and 31 and the mounting plate 19 positionably adjusted by virtue of the movement permitted by slots 37 relative to screw shanks 41 to provide the desired tension in chain 32. The nuts 47 may then be tightened to fixedly secure the drive assembly in the compactor in the adjusted position. The frame 50, with the drive now fully installed therein, may be then returned to the upright position for completion of assembly and for installation of the cabinet 11 thereon, if desired, as discussed above.

Servicing of the drive means is facilitated by virtue of the fully accessible arrangement of the drive means, as best seen in FIG. 3. Thus, in servicing the drive, the user need merely invert the compactor so as to once again place the drive means in the uppermost position for free accessibility to all portions thereof as desired.

By virtue of maintaining the fixed centers of the gears 27 and 28, improved accuracy in the power transmission to the sprocket and chain drive is maintained.

As the clips 43 may be retained in place on the base wall with the legs 44 disposed between the base wall and the mounting plate portions 35 and 36, removal of the nuts 47, such as in removing the motor drive portion of the structure, does not affect the retention of the screws on the base wall notwithstanding the inverted disposition of the frame during such servicing. Further, by utilization of the gear power take-off means, a speed reduction to the chain sprocket 31, such as a reduction of 6-to-l, is readily obtained with minimum cost. The entire power drive between the motor shaft 26 and ram drive shafts l4 and may have effectively minimum vertical dimension for simplified installation in the compactor while yet providing accurate laterally spaced relationships between the elements of the drive for facilitated accessibility as discussed above.

The foregoing disclosure of specific embodiments is illustrative of the broad inventive concepts comprehended by the invention.

We claim:

1. In a refuse compactor having a base, a compacting ram, and means carried by the base for driving the ram including a driven sprocket, drive means for driving the driven sprocket comprising: a rigid mounting member; an electric drive motor having an output shaft; securing means securing the drive motor to said mounting member; a driver sprocket rotatably carried by said mounting member for rotation about an axis having a fixed spaced relationship to the axis of said shaft; means for driving said driver sprocket from said motor shaft;

means interconnecting said driver sprocket and the.

driven sprocket for driving the ram as an incident of rotation of the motor shaft; and adjustable means for adjustably securing said mounting member to the compactor base with said driver sprocket laterally aligned with and adjustably spaced from said driven sprocket and providing for adjustment of the tension in said interconnecting means between said driver and driven sprockets without affecting the spaced relationship between said driver sprocket axis and shaft axis and thereby concurrently maintaining accurately the relationship of said means for driving said driver sprocket to each of said shaft and driver sprocket.

2. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said driver sprocket'from said motor shaft comprises a speed reduction means 3. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said driver sprocket comprises a driver gear on said motor shaft and a larger driven gear coaxially fixed to said driver sprocket and meshing with said driver gear.

4. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein the compactor base comprises a horizontal wall defining a superjacent space and a subjacent space, said motor securing means disposing said motor in said superjacent space with said output shaft projecting downwardly through said mounting member into said subjacent space, said sprockets and interconnecting means being disposed in said subjacent space.

5. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein a stub shaft is fixed to said mounting member and rotatably coaxially carries said driver sprocket and a portion of said means for driving said driver sprocket from said motor shaft.

6. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said driver sprocket from said motor shaft comprises a driver gear on said motor shaft, and a driven gear coaxially fixed to said driver sprocket and drivingly connected to said driver gear.

7. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said motor securing means comprises resilient mounting means.

8. In a refuse compactor having a base, a compacting ram, and means carried by the base for driving the ram including a driven sprocket, drive means for driving the driven sprocket comprising: a rigid mounting member; an electric drive motor having an output shaft; securing means securing the drive motor to said mounting memher; a driver sprocket rotatably carried by said mounting member for rotation about an axis having a fixed spaced relationship to the axis of said shaft; means for driving said driver sprocket from saidmotor shaft; a chain interconnecting said driver sprocket and the driven sprocket for driving the ram as an incident of rotation of the .motor shaft; a plurality of first threaded connector elements carried by the compactor base; a plurality of slots in said mounting member disposed to align with said threaded connector elements carried by the compactor base; and a plurality of second threaded connector elements engaging said mounting member at said slots and disposed for threaded association with said first threaded connector elements for adjustably fixedly securing said mounting member to the compactor base with said driver sprocket aligned with and adjustably spaced from said driven sprocket and providing for adjustment of tension in said chain between said driver and driven sprockets without affecting the spaced relationship between said driver sprocket axis and shaft axis and thereby concurrently maintaining accurately the relationship of said means for driving said driver sprocket to each of said shaft and driver sprocket.

9. The refuse compactor means of claim 8 wherein said first threaded connecting elements comprise screws retained on the compactor base and extending through said slots and said second threaded connecting elements comprise nuts threaded to said screws laterally of said drive motor shaft.

10. The refuse compactor means of claim 8 wherein said first threaded connecting elements comprise screws retained on the compactor base and extending through said slots, said second threaded connecting elements comprise nuts threaded to said screws laterally of said drive motor shaft, and means are provided for retaining said screws on the compactor base prior to the threading of said nuts thereto with the shanks of the screws projecting from the base for passage through said mounting member slots.

11. The refuse compactor of claim 10 wherein the compactor base defines an opening, said mounting member extending transversely across said opening,

. and said screw retaining means comprising U-clips from the compactor base. 

1. In a refuse compactor having a base, a compacting ram, and means carried by the base for driving the ram including a driven sprocket, drive means for driving the driven sprocket comprising: a rigid mounting member; an electric drive motor having an output shaft; securing means securing the drive motor to said mounting member; a driver sprocket rotatably carried by said mounting member for rotation about an axis having a fixed spaced relationship to the axis of said shafT; means for driving said driver sprocket from said motor shaft; means interconnecting said driver sprocket and the driven sprocket for driving the ram as an incident of rotation of the motor shaft; and adjustable means for adjustably securing said mounting member to the compactor base with said driver sprocket laterally aligned with and adjustably spaced from said driven sprocket and providing for adjustment of the tension in said interconnecting means between said driver and driven sprockets without affecting the spaced relationship between said driver sprocket axis and shaft axis and thereby concurrently maintaining accurately the relationship of said means for driving said driver sprocket to each of said shaft and driver sprocket.
 2. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said driver sprocket from said motor shaft comprises a speed reduction means
 3. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said driver sprocket comprises a driver gear on said motor shaft and a larger driven gear coaxially fixed to said driver sprocket and meshing with said driver gear.
 4. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein the compactor base comprises a horizontal wall defining a superjacent space and a subjacent space, said motor securing means disposing said motor in said superjacent space with said output shaft projecting downwardly through said mounting member into said subjacent space, said sprockets and interconnecting means being disposed in said subjacent space.
 5. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein a stub shaft is fixed to said mounting member and rotatably coaxially carries said driver sprocket and a portion of said means for driving said driver sprocket from said motor shaft.
 6. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said means for driving said driver sprocket from said motor shaft comprises a driver gear on said motor shaft, and a driven gear coaxially fixed to said driver sprocket and drivingly connected to said driver gear.
 7. The refuse compactor means of claim 1 wherein said motor securing means comprises resilient mounting means.
 8. In a refuse compactor having a base, a compacting ram, and means carried by the base for driving the ram including a driven sprocket, drive means for driving the driven sprocket comprising: a rigid mounting member; an electric drive motor having an output shaft; securing means securing the drive motor to said mounting member; a driver sprocket rotatably carried by said mounting member for rotation about an axis having a fixed spaced relationship to the axis of said shaft; means for driving said driver sprocket from saidmotor shaft; a chain interconnecting said driver sprocket and the driven sprocket for driving the ram as an incident of rotation of the motor shaft; a plurality of first threaded connector elements carried by the compactor base; a plurality of slots in said mounting member disposed to align with said threaded connector elements carried by the compactor base; and a plurality of second threaded connector elements engaging said mounting member at said slots and disposed for threaded association with said first threaded connector elements for adjustably fixedly securing said mounting member to the compactor base with said driver sprocket aligned with and adjustably spaced from said driven sprocket and providing for adjustment of tension in said chain between said driver and driven sprockets without affecting the spaced relationship between said driver sprocket axis and shaft axis and thereby concurrently maintaining accurately the relationship of said means for driving said driver sprocket to each of said shaft and driver sprocket.
 9. The refuse compactor means of claim 8 wherein said first threaded connecting elements comprise screws retained on the compactor base and extending through said slots and said second threaded connecting elements comprise nuts threaded to said screws laterally of said drive motor shaft.
 10. The refuse compacTor means of claim 8 wherein said first threaded connecting elements comprise screws retained on the compactor base and extending through said slots, said second threaded connecting elements comprise nuts threaded to said screws laterally of said drive motor shaft, and means are provided for retaining said screws on the compactor base prior to the threading of said nuts thereto with the shanks of the screws projecting from the base for passage through said mounting member slots.
 11. The refuse compactor of claim 10 wherein the compactor base defines an opening, said mounting member extending transversely across said opening, and said screw retaining means comprising U-clips straddling the edge of said opening and having a leg portion received between the base and mounting member.
 12. The refuse compactor of claim 10 wherein the compactor base defines an opening, said mounting member extending transversely across said opening, and said screw retaining means comprising U-clips straddling the edge of said opening and having a first leg portion received between the base and mounting member and a second leg portion abutting the head of the screw to preclude axial withdrawal of the screws from the compactor base. 